Welcome

In summer 2012, the Access to Opioid Medication in Europe (ATOME) project had reached the halfway point. During the past 30 months, a consortium of 10 academic institutions and public health organisations has worked together with country teams in the 12 target countries, including government officials and public health and medicine experts, to carry out legislative and policy reviews. By May 2012, key Milestones of the ATOME project were successfully completed, such as the publication of the revised WHO policy guidelines Ensuring balance in national policies on controlled substances, the implementation of two six-country workshops, and a quick scan of the national legislation.

The outcome of the ATOME work packages and activities in the 12 European countries will result in country reports including targeted recommendations for legislative changes. The ultimate goal is to improve access for all patients requiring treatment with opioid medicines. Key activities in 2012 / 2013 will be the continued organisation of national follow-up conferences, as well as the in-depth analysis of the countries’ legislation. Parallel to this, extended research will be undertaken in order to address questions emerging from the results of project activities so far.

Given the impact of the past ATOME workshops and conferences on the participants’ knowledge and attitudes regarding problems related to inappropriate opioid availability in their country it can be expected that the forthcoming ATOME activities will have the potential to make a real difference and help to improve opioid availability in the 12 target countries.

We invite you to bookmark our website which is regularly being updated. For example, visit our resources area to find documents and material such as reports of the ATOME workshops, or click on the countries for information on opioid use in the respective countries and neighbouring countries, using the menu selections at the top of each page.

ATOME 12 Target Countries

Countries

New Guidelines Published

These new World Health Organization (WHO) policy guidelines Ensuring balance in national policies on controlled substances: guidance for availability and accessibility of controlled medicines build on a previous set of guidelines, Achieving balance in national opioids control policy: guidelines for assessment, published in 2000.

In addition to the English language version, you can download a copy in the language of the following nations. Please select the appropriate link from the list below: